Yachtsman Paul Watson

Sir Francis Chichester 's The Gypsy Moth IV
The Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin is officially a yacht. (I learned this from Hawspiper) - That makes Paul Watson a yachtsman.

Yachtsman - the first thing that popped into my head is Sir Francis Chichester. He was justifiably considered to be an expert seaman. On the other end of the scale is Al Czervik, the fictional character played by Rodney Dangerfield in the movie Caddyshack.

Paul Watson falls somewhere on the scale between Dangerfield's Al Czervik and Sir Francis Chichester. Rodney Dangerfield's character at least hired a professional captain, Paul Watson should do the same.

UPDATE: Fred Fry informs that the Steve Irwin is a fishery support Vessel - the movie clip of Dangerfield is still funny though - and Watson is still no seaman.
K.C.

Steve Irwin Pirate Ship - A rebuttal

The following post was emailed by commenter Will:

Many have suggested here and here that the Steve Irwin’s crew is guilty of piracy. In fact Kennebec Captain even posts the definition piracy: illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation. The Captain later states: Again, I am no lawyer but it does seem that a good argument could be made that the crew of of the Steve Irwin are in fact pirates.

This may seem like a sound argument at first. As one reads the definition further, one finds the phrase “committed for for private ends”. This means that the crew of the Steve Irwin must have some kind of private gain in order to be declared pirates. For those who would disagree, I point to the 1961 seizing of the Santa Maria. The ship was taken over at sea by a man named Galvao and 70 of his followers. The takeover was to represent a revolution against the government of Portugal. According to Brittin:

“No private gain...was envisioned. From the above it follows that no act of piracy…had taken place.”

So, as long as the act is not for private gain it isn’t considered piracy.

The fact that the Steve Irwin considers itself a political cause means that the situation is similar to that of Galvao. That is, while they may seem like pirates, they are outside the definition of piracy.

Sources: International Law for Seagoing Officers By Burdick Brittin

Whale Wars and the Definition of Piracy

Are the crew of the Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin pirates?

They have been seen on television throwing acid onto the deck of a Japanese vessel and boarded the Japanese whaling vessel at sea. They also made plans to board a trawler with the intent of disabling the communication equipment.

I am a mariner not a lawyer but here is what I've come up with:

The definition of piracy according to international law is (Article 15 of the 1958 Convention on the High Seas):
"Piracy consists of any of the following acts:

1. any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
a. on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
b. against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any state;
2. any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
3. any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b)."

Again, I am no lawyer but it does seem that a good argument could be made that the crew of of the Steve Irwin are in fact pirates.

K.C.

Source:

Maritime Piracy: Defining the Problem

Whale Wars and Seamanship - Lack of Leadership

Caught the latest episode of Whale Wars last night. Who is running that ship?

The inexperience of the crew was glaringly obvious when they lost track of the RIB boat. Communication protocol should have been established and implemented prior to operations, that's a no brainier.

More interesting to me were the actions of Capt Paul Watson. He was in his cabin the entire time the RIB boat was lost. The reason given for his absences was that he had stayed up many hours fielding phone calls from the press.

Watson apparently believes that PR work is his main role. He delegates responsibility for operations to the mates, who lack the experience and skill needed. That's wrong. The captain is responsible for the safety of the ship and crew.

That ship, operating in those waters, requires good seamanship. Paul Watson is not a seaman but a public relations man. It would be more prudent to hire an experienced captain to operate the ship. Mr. Watson could then devote his full attention to his role as spokesman for his organization.

K.C.

Whale Wars and Seamanship

Is the Sea Shepherd's vessel Steve Irwin seaworthy?

Not with that crew.

I watched the entire RIB boat fiasco. The crew did realize they needed more control over the bow of the RIB boat but after the first try they never attempted a launch without taking all the way off the ship.

After the RIB boat flipped it was a man overboard situation. The captain or the watch officer should have put the wheel hard to stbd to swing the stern away from the RIB boat. Next Capt Watson choose to put the engines astern and try to back toward the broached RIB boat. It's hard to believe that backing is faster then making a round turn.

The first planned response was to launch a second RIB boat but for some reason it was decided that was a bad idea.

Then it was decided to rescue from the ship. The Steve Erwin is a twin screw vessel but they didn't seem be able to maneuver the ship within heaving line distance of the RIB boat and ended up resorting to use of a line throwing gun.

If the Sea Shepherd's Steve Erwin was a commercial vessel it would be considered unseaworthy with that crew. If Paul Watson was to hire a real captain and mate those presently in that position could stay aboard and take the role of chief and assistant political officers respectively.

Whale Wars gets a sea plus - a Daily New review

K.C.